1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording/reproduction apparatus for recording information such as moving image data, still image data, audio data, and the like on recording media such as a hard disk, optical disk, and the like, and reproducing information recorded on these recording media.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an apparatus for recording/reproducing information such as moving image data, still image data, audio data, and the like, an image recording/reproduction apparatus that handles detachable recording media such as optical disks represented by a DVD-RAM has been developed. Recently, a hard-disk built-in type image recording/reproduction apparatus which can simultaneously handle detachable recording media such as optical disks and the like, and a recording medium incorporated in the apparatus has been developed.
Such hard-disk built-in type image recording/reproduction apparatus can record a large number of programs as the capacities of optical disks and hard disks increase. As a result, the user often forgets correspondence between disks and their contents. Although management information is written on each disk, the contents of that disk cannot be recognized unless the disk is loaded. Hence, what kinds of images are recorded cannot be managed by only a user's memory.
A library function suited to such hard-disk built-in type image recording/reproduction apparatus is described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-150754. The library function allows the user to easily identify and manage many images held on a plurality of optical disks and hard disk together. More specifically, upon recording an image on an optical disk or hard disk, library information of the image to be recorded is generated, and is stored in the hard disk. The library information can be edited and displayed as a list as needed. In this way, even when no disk is loaded, the user can easily display a list of disks and programs recorded on them.
The library function is very effective, but the library information often requires a huge volume. The user often wants to re-organize library information. However, there is no means suitable for organizing such library information. In order to organize library information, the user must initialize the hard disk as well as library information, or must manually register or delete library information for each disk or program, resulting in poor degree of freedom and very troublesome operations.